Late-Game Goal Stops Harvard’s ECAC Tourney Run

Another year, another conference semifinal nailbiter. And unfortunately for the No. 4 Harvard women’s hockey team, it was left looking at a 3-2 loss for the second year in a row.

The Crimson (20-7-5) surrendered a late-game goal to end its bid for an ECAC tournament title Friday night, as No. 6 Clarkson (23-11-5) skated away with the win at Cheel Arena.

Golden Knight Gabrielle Kosziwka found the back of the net with 2:07 to play to send her Clarkson squad to its first-ever conference championship.

“It was a great hockey game just to be a part of,” junior Kate Buesser said. “It’s really tough that we came out on the losing end, because I know everyone worked really hard and put a lot of effort in.”

With a trip to the ECAC finals on the line—and important NCAA implications for both teams—Harvard and the Golden Knights both had trouble getting settled in the game’s opening minutes.

The Crimson got the first shot on goal just under three minutes in, but Clarkson netminder Lauren Dahm made the easy save. And although Harvard held the Golden Knights shotless for the first six minutes of the game, Clarkson capitalized on its first opportunity.

Daris Tendler took a pass from Juana Baribeau high in the slot and launched the puck towards the net. Though Crimson rookie goalie Laura Bellamy was in position for the save, the shot deflected off her glove and into the back of the net.

Harvard was only narrowly outshot in the first frame, 6-5, but it skated into the break facing a 1-0 deficit.

“In the first [period]...everyone was kind of holding their stick a little bit too tight,” Buesser said. “Just the atmosphere—playing in a big arena with a lot of people there.”

But when the puck dropped to start the second period, the Crimson team responded with renewed energy.

Though the Golden Knight defense held up to Harvard’s early pressure—including a key stop from Dahm on a shot off the stick of senior Randi Griffin—Buesser broke through nine minutes into the frame.

In the midst of a line change, Buesser charged the net and tipped in a pass from freshman Josephine Pucci to even the score at one. Junior Deborah Conway was credited with the secondary assist.

“The line in front of me had been working really well,” Buesser explained. “Pucci just made a beautiful pass through everyone, and it was a little bit in front of me, so I had to throw my stick out there.”

With the game tied and the Crimson in control, Clarkson resorted to sloppy defense.

“We came out and played our game and were on our toes,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “As a result, we drew some penalties and capitalized on a power play.”

After Baribeau and Tegan Schroder were whistled for consecutive penalties at 13:01 and 13:29, the Crimson set up on a 5-on-3 advantage. Forty seconds later, freshman Jillian Dempsey won a faceoff and passed the puck back to senior Anna McDonald.

McDonald put a shot on net, and though Dahm made the initial save, junior Liza Ryabkina scooped up the rebound to make it a 2-1 game.

The Golden Knights settled down to knot the score again three minutes later on an unassisted tally from Brittany Mulligan. After making a defensive stop, Mulligan beat out two defenders to backhand the puck into the top right corner of the net.

Just like that, the momentum was back in the hands of Clarkson as the squads headed into the break.

The Golden Knights pressured Bellamy in an early-period power play, but the rookie stood up to the test, making three saves on the penalty kill. Bellamy finished with 19 saves.

Harvard had its chances in the third, putting seven shots on net, but with the clock winding down and overtime looming, Clarkson found a way to light the lamp.

“It’s just the fight that’s in that team,” Buesser said. “They were playing for their season there...They have a lot of great personalities on that team, and they just never go away.”

After the Golden Knights won a faceoff, Katelyn Ptolemy took a hard slapshot from the top of the zone.

Kosziwka was there to push the puck between Bellamy’s legs and give the home team the lead—the third time this season that Clarkson has staged a late-game comeback against the Crimson.

“Sometimes it’s a lot of luck,” Stone said. “I think we can do a better job closing out periods and closing out games...but again, hockey’s so free-flowing that momentum swings [matter]. Good teams don’t go away easily, and they’re a good team.”

Stone pulled Bellamy with 1:08 to play, but Harvard couldn’t find the equalizer. Clarkson advanced to the championship game, where it fell, 4-3, to Cornell in overtime—giving the Big Red the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Harvard received an at-large bid to the national tournament and was named the No. 4 seed last night. It will host Cornell in the quarterfinals this weekend.

“You have to give [Clarkson] a lot of respect for how hard they worked,” Buesser said. “It’s nothing we can hold our heads down about—we can’t feel bad about how we played.”

—Staff writer Kate Leist can be reached at kleist@fas.harvard.edu.